Q&A: Running With Scissors' Vince Desi on Postal III Mayhem

Arizona based developers Running With Scissors made a name for themselves back in 1997 with the release of their first title, Postal. The game almost immediately ran into criticism from legislators and censorship advocates – most notably Senator Joe Lieberman – and has regularly appeared on lists of the most violent or most controversial games, along with its 2003 sequel.

Company CEO Vince Desi has always maintained that the series has allowed players an immense freedom of choice: that, although possible, violence is never necessary within the games. "We've always maintained since publishing the original Postal that the game is only as violent as the player wants it to be," he notes.

Late last year, the company announced that a film adaptation of the franchise would be directed and produced by Uwe Boll, with a release date set for 2007. More recently, Running With Scissors has confirmed that Postal III is in production for PC and Xbox 360, marking the series' first foray onto consoles.

Gamasutra contacted Desi recently to ask in detail about the franchise's controversial past, its future and the upcoming movie.

I got a feeling that this game is going to be as violent as the othere titles, I hope so anyway >:). Then they will be those trying to ban the game and thats what sucks. They should have a part in all stores where all the mature rated games go and only have a 18+ rule. Instead of just flat out trying to ban the game even though it probably wont work.